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The VA orders this exam to verify your diagnosis and measure how severe it is right now. It can shape your rating and your monthly compensation — but it does not decide your claim. A rating specialist weighs it against your full record, and if the exam does not reflect your condition, you can say so and ask the VA to correct it.
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A cluster of chronic unexplained symptoms that affect veterans who served in the Southwest Asia theater of operations. Symptoms include fatigue, muscle pain, joint pain, headaches, and cognitive problems. The VA presumes these are service-connected under 38 CFR 3.317.
The percentages this diagnostic code can be rated at. Which one applies depends on the findings — no tool here can tell you in advance.
Rated under 38 CFR 3.317, rated analogous to DC 6354. The examiner records findings on the DBQ; a rating specialist makes the decision.
| Rating | Rating criteria | What that means for you |
|---|---|---|
| 0% | In every instance where the schedule does not provide a zero percent evaluation for a diagnostic code, a zero percent evaluation shall be assigned when the requirements for a compensable evaluation are not met. | Your symptoms are service connected, but in the past year they have not produced at least one full week of incapacitation — which under DC 6354 means only bed rest and treatment prescribed by a licensed physician — and they are not controlled by continuous medication. Those are the two ways to reach the 10 percent level, so neither is met. This code prints no 0 percent rung of its own; 38 CFR 4.31 supplies it: no monthly payment, but the condition is on record and a later increase runs from it. The lowest compensable level under this code is 10 percent. Note that a 0 percent here is not a route into the Gulf War presumption: 38 CFR 3.317 requires the qualifying chronic disability to have become manifest during Southwest Asia service or to a degree of 10 percent or more, so a 0 percent is the level assigned when an already service-connected illness improves, or when service connection was established on a direct basis. |
What supports this level
| ||
| 10% | Which wax and wane but result in periods of incapacitation of at least one but less than two weeks total duration per year; or symptoms controlled by continuous medication | You have Gulf War illness symptoms that come and go and are manageable with medication. Your daily life is slightly limited during flare-ups. |
What supports this level
| ||
| 20% | Which are nearly constant and restrict routine daily activities by less than 25 percent of the pre-illness level; or which wax and wane, resulting in periods of incapacitation of at least two but less than four weeks total duration per year | You have Gulf War illness symptoms that are nearly constant and limit your daily activities by up to 25% compared to before your illness began. |
What supports this level
| ||
| 40% | Which are nearly constant and restrict routine daily activities from 50 to 75 percent of the pre-illness level; or which wax and wane, resulting in periods of incapacitation of at least four but less than six weeks total duration per year | You have Gulf War illness symptoms that are nearly constant and limit your daily activities to 50-75% of what you could do before. You are incapacitated for at least four weeks a year. |
What supports this level
| ||
| 60% | Which are nearly constant and restrict routine daily activities to less than 50 percent of the pre-illness level; or which wax and wane, resulting in periods of incapacitation of at least six weeks total duration per year | You have Gulf War illness symptoms that are nearly constant and limit your daily activities to less than 50% of what you could do before. You are incapacitated for at least six weeks a year. |
What supports this level
| ||
| 100% | Which are nearly constant and so severe as to restrict routine daily activities almost completely and which may occasionally preclude self-care | You have constant, severe Gulf War illness symptoms that prevent you from working or caring for yourself. |
What supports this level
| ||
The middle column is our transcription of the criteria at 38 CFR 3.317, rated analogous to DC 6354, condensed for reading. Read the section itself on eCFR before relying on the exact wording. The items under each level are the kinds of evidence that document it — not a VA checklist, and not a prediction of which level applies to you.
Not knowing that Gulf War illness is a presumptive condition — you do not need to prove a specific diagnosis or direct cause; you only need to show qualifying service and chronic symptoms that cannot be attributed to a known diagnosis.
Filing for specific diagnoses instead of undiagnosed illness — if your symptoms do not fit a known diagnosis, filing under 38 CFR 3.317 (undiagnosed illness) may be easier to win.
Not documenting your service in the Southwest Asia theater of operations — DD-214, deployment orders, and travel records are essential.
Failing to report all symptoms — Gulf War illness involves multiple body systems; list every symptom even if they seem unrelated.
These apply to every C&P exam, whatever the condition.